Darling, Let’s Talk About This

Do you think it’s time we talked about this, my darling? I mean, yes, it really is.

Because it’s been a long time. And it’s a bad thing, I feel.

Isn’t it?

Surely, now it’s time to give up the phones?

For the sake of our sanity.

Is it time we talked about this?

The longer it goes on my darling, my love.

The big fat elephant in the room. The larger the damage.

No?

Let’s be clear: We are both as bad as each other. It’s certainly not that the phone is more important—of course, it’s not!

But it gets more attention than me and you put together.

Is it complacency? Or a bad habit? I don’t know, but I can foresee the damage. And it’s big.

I feel it within me, and I’m so conscious of not doing it anymore, even though I have done it before. I know I’ve been distracted at mealtimes or when you directly talk to me.

And I’ve done the worst thing and made out I was listening. When, in fact, I wasn’t.

The biggest conversation we never have

So, let’s talk about the nation’s biggest mental health conversation, shall we?

I see you doing it more frequently nowadays, and that really worries me. What are you looking at, I wonder?

Sometimes, no, many times last year, you were so fixated on that goddamn phone, and now this year too. It breaks my heart. But I’m equally as bad. For the first time, I admit it.

Don’t get me wrong here. I’m a tough woman and can withstand a lot.

But when I see you doing it in front of them – our miracle babies – tugging at your trouser legs, begging for your attention. You’re so captivated by LinkedIn or checking stupid work emails.

This hurts me and them so much. It hurts us all, including you, but you can’t see it.

It should be our time. Talk day, I call it. Family members uniting, saying NO more to the sh*tful scrolling. Let’s live life!

Dinner, bath, stories, brushing teeth, and bed. That is how our evenings will look for the foreseeable future, and it’s so beautiful! Yet we risk missing it.

It’s a simple formula, and they don’t need much. Our boys deserve our full attention. Yes, 100%, they deserve this.

But more often than not, the phones are with us.

Distracting us. In our hands. Our pockets. Our heads. Scratching away at our psyche, digging a hole deeper than we know.

What is it doing to us, I wonder? All that social media and constant dopamine hits through signing up for yet another freebie.

It’s just such a waste of time, my darling let’s be serious. Time is ticking for us all.

There are so many conversations, looks, loving, passionate things we could be doing together if it weren’t for the phones.

I feel like we don’t have quality time together anymore. The phone is in the way. It’s not the kids.

I’m a real person woman here, my darling. I love you. I love our gorgeous children so much! Yet when was the last time we actually had a conversation without our f*cking phones?

I can’t quite remember.

So, my darling, I’m asking you, please, shall we have a conversation?

Is it time we talked about this?

Try journalling

Have you tried journaling before? Check out my e-book, which will take you step by step through several powerful journal exercises designed to leave you calmer, less anxious, and more present.

Also, consider poetry as a form of relaxation. I have so many poems for you to read at your leisure, but of course, I’m all for encouraging people to write their own poems, too!